Gang of two which conned families of slain soldiers in several states held after encounter

MEERUT: In a big catch, UP Police on Friday arrested two persons who used to con families of soldiers killed in anti-terror and border operations and had over 11 FIRs registered against them in several northern states, including UP, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Rajasthan. 31-year-old Harender Singh and Vishnu Lal, 28 -- both residents of Mathura—were arrested in Hapur’s Nizampur area after a brief encounter in which Harender got injured in leg. They were targeting families of slain soldiers for over a decade now. Harender had made over Rs 2 crore through cheating the unsuspecting families, a police officer said, adding that he also had several flats in Noida. Inspector general (IG) of Meerut range Alok Singh said, “Harender and Vishnu used to approach the families of slain soldiers a few months after their death, donning the uniform of the same force that the deceased worked in. They used to win the family’s trust by projecting themselves from the same unit. “After that, they would inquire about the compensatory amount they had received. Later, they used to siphon off large sums from the unsuspecting family members by telling them that they are putting it in FDs and other government schemes.” Station house officer (SHO) of Kotwali in Hapur, Mahavir Singh Chauhan, said, “According to an estimate, Harender has pocketed more than Rs 2 crore through this con business and even has several flats in Noida. We have already received copies of 11 FIRs from different states against ‘Mishri Lal Meena’, a name Herendra used. In fact, he had even served six years in jail for the same crime he had had committed 10 years ago by duping the family of a soldier in Mathura of Rs 10 lakh. The other person Vishnu served as an assistant.” On June 6, one such family of a slain CRPF jawan Shobhit Sharma of Hapur had approached police after the jawan’s mother was duped of Rs 7 lakh by the duo. Sharma was killed in Naxal attack in Sukma district in Chhattisgarh on March 13, 2018.

Speaking to TOI, Sharma’s brother Narender Kumar revealed how they were duped. “This man, Harender, came in uniform, showed us the copy of documents of my slain brother and even made us talk over phone to what he addressed as Commanding Officer in CRPF Noida Group Centre. He had so much detail, so we trusted him and soon enough he asked my mother to transfer Rs seven lakh in his account so that an FD could be made in my mother and her grandson’s name. Even before we could understand, the money was withdrawn from the bank and this person along with his assistant disappeared.”